Review – Shades of Earth (Across the Universe, Book 3) by Beth Revis (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Science Fiction
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: November 14th, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1595146151
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Across the Universe Trilogy
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This was an excellent conclusion to an an absolutely spectacular young adult science fiction series. I really enjoyed this conclusion and this series as a whole.

Amy and Elder are finally leading those people willing to leave the Godspeed to their new home planet. The threat of exactly what type of monster the leaders of Godspeed were staying on Godspeed to avoid hangs over those traveling to the new planet. Added to that threat is the threat of those who have been frozen on Godspeed. When they land on the new planet it’s time to unfreeze all the people who have been sleeping for hundreds of years and that brings threats and complications of its own.

This is an exciting book because we finally get to see this new and awesome planet with our own eyes. However some of that wonder is crushed by all the problems the ex-Godspeed inhabitants end up facing.

It was fun to get to meet and know Amy’s parents; they are unfrozen shortly after landing. As expected there are issues between the Godspeed residents, who are genetically engineering to all look the same, and the original Earth inhabitants. The original Earth residents don’t feel like the Godspeed residents are real people. Because of these issues the group ends up somewhat torn between two factions. The Godspeed residents who are lead by Elder and the Earth residents who are lead by Amy’s father.

As you can imagine the above puts a lot of stress on Amy and Elder’s relationship. To add to this is the introduction of another character named Chris, who is a solider that it Amy’s age. Chris is somewhat infatuated with Amy and is causing more tension between Amy and Elder.

Most of the story is a thiller/mystery. The characters are desperately trying to unravel the mysteries of this new planet, while dodging dangers both unknown and unseen.

The only thing I found disappointing about this story was the predictability. The first two novels in this series just floored me with some of the twists and turns. This novel wasn’t like that. Chris has a big secret which I figured out pretty much right away. The mystery of who/what the threat on this new planet is was also very easy to predict. So while this was a very entertaining and engaging read; it wasn’t as awe-inspiring as the first two books in the series.

I also felt like things were a bit rushed at the end. I would have liked a little bit more closure and maybe a glimpse into the future to see how events played out.

Overall this was an awesome and engaging young adult science fiction novel. I really really loved the first two books in this series and I did think this book was more predictable and less gripping than the first two books. I also thought the ending was a bit rushed. However, despite that this was still an incredibly engaging story with awesome characters. I really loved it and would recommend to science fiction fans.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Enders Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge